CITY HOSPITALS SEEK PROPOSALS ON STUDIES

Requests for proposals for an efficiency study on a proposed affiliation between Cape Girardeau's two hospitals will go out soon, says one hospital administrator.

James Sexton, president and chief executive officer of St. Francis Medical Center, said the study should be under way by mid-January.

Sexton and James Wente, administrator of Southeast Missouri Hospital, along with representatives from both hospitals' boards, announced last week that a joint study committee has been formed to study the feasibility of an affiliation between the two hospitals.

The study will look at what cost-savings might be achieved by affiliating the two hospitals, what impact an affiliation might have on health-care delivery, how an affiliation would be structured and whether such an arrangement would be feasible.

Serving on the committee from St. Francis are Sexton; Harry Rediger, chairman of St. Francis' board of directors; Dennis Marchi, a board member and Schnucks store manager; and Doug Groesbeck, board member and district manager of Union Electric.

Southeast's representatives are Wente; Rob Erlbacher, president of Southeast's board of trustees and Missouri Dry Dock; Jerry Zimmer of Zimmer Communications; and David Hahs of Northwestern Mutual.

The study committee will be meeting "as needed, but probably approximately once a month or every four to six weeks," Sexton said.

"First of all we'll be looking at, in the very near future, the efficiency study, the consultants that we'll be asking in, how they're going to go about doing the study," he said. "We'll be looking at probably setting some subcommittee activity into play with the executive staff at both hospitals."

"We've got a lot of work to do. We're getting geared up and ready to go," he said.

The study committee is planning to visit Clinton, Iowa, and Owensboro, Ky., where community hospitals have undergone mergers.

The two cities were chosen because in each a Catholic and secular hospital combined, Sexton said. That would be the case here.

The hospitals have discussed the possibility of merging in the past.

No one from either hospital is calling the potential affiliation now under discussion a merger, but Sexton has said a merger is one possible scenario.

At this point, Sexton has said both facilities will remain open and the result of negotiations may be "some level of shared governance" between the two hospitals.

When the study committee was announced, Wente put a timeframe on the process of six to 24 months, depending on whether the Justice Department or Federal Trade Commission become involved in any potential anti-trust concerns.

Both hospitals have already retained legal counsel for consultation on anti-trust issues.